Photography: Masks 3 Finalists

We have come to the finalists, photos that are the complete assessment and will evaluated by the Guardian.

Here they are all 9:

I believe these are fit to be finalists as they are in wonderful focus and the clear imagery show off the masks designs and their angles. They are kept in colour as they give more emotion to the theme then black'n'white could have it makes them more real to the viewer. Their compositions are different so they aren't all similar but kept to the genre theme, the angles help highlight the masks well and give them a professional look. I am very pleased with these photos and are happy with them as they are what i wanted. To me they are a success.  However, I do acknowledge that I have artefacts in the background other than the studio background.  I like this as it makes it seem real and not too staged.

The Photographer that I used to inspire my photography project is Mr Tom Hoops. His main work consists of black and white close up portraits. (See my post about Tom Hoops the Photographer). His work is highly stylised and he often crops the face to reveal a mysterious look.

I liked the idea of the masks close up and in detailed focus like Tom did for his photos bringing a slight similarity between the themes. Though Tom photos are more about the peoples faces and expressions where as mine are focused around the masks, however the models do bring more depth to the photos then the masks could on their own without props. Although I find his work inspiring I have put my own slant on it rather that copying it.  I am really pleased with my results and feel they have a similar quality to his work.

There is another photographer who inspired my work with facial and eye direction, Ms Julia.M.Cameron. With her expressional shots of people in a portrait style with a black and white tone you see the emotion they draw through with their eyes. Either staring directly at the camera or gazing out into the distance (as see in my post of her), I wanted that for my photos by changing the models gaze direction and face turning so they didn't look like dolls but people that had thoughts to give. Although Ms Julia has toned her photos black and white I felt that for this reality/colour out weighted vintage in the decision.  Here are some of Ms Julia's photos for you to see for yourself.

 This subject has her eyes closed and head tiled giving the emotion of sadness through her expression. Ms Julia used a vintage camera for her work that gave charming results for all her photos. This facial placement inspired me as her 'pouting chin' looked beautiful and brought her to life in a way instead of making her to be a doll like some now a days models are portrayed to be. Inspired photo no: 6.

The subject has her hands in focal view near her face which I also though added more structure to the photo as well as strengthened her expression on thought. This photo brings youth to the viewer with her youth looks yet serious gaze. Inspired photo no: 4.

Her gaze upwards with concern shining through this vintage looking photo brings one to wonder about ones life as viewing this photo you wonder why nearly all of Ms Julia's photos show detached emotions but beautiful expressions. Inspired photo no: 5.

In 1863, when Cameron was 48 years old, her daughter gave her a camera as a present, thereby starting her career as a photographer. Within a year, Cameron became a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland. She remained a member of the Photographic Society, London, until her death. In her photography, Cameron strove to capture beauty. She wrote "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at the length the longing has been satisfied." The basic techniques of soft-focus "fancy portraits", which she later developed, were taught to her by David Wilkie Wynfield. In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as out-of-focus image, and the effect cannot be achieved simply by defocusing a sharp lens.